Signal flag

ABSTRACT

A safety device for water skiers, the device comprising a flag secured to a dowel which can be waved from a boat to warn other boats that a towed skier is down in the water, the flag upon its outer side being painted bright orange, the flag being able to be turned inside out so to change colors.

b United States Patent -[l 3,640,242

Guinn et al. Feb. 8, 1972 [54] SIGNAL FLAG 2,632,269 3/1953 Sanders..40/ I25 721 Inventors: III-mu Guinn, I305 Allen 0.; George P. g'gg'ggg25:32; gx fg 3g Bah, 1204 Purdue, both of Modesto, Calif- 95350 FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1 Filed= 4, 1970 27,656 12/1967 Great Britain..1 16/173 1 No: 1 France "I Primary Examiner-Louis J. Capozi [52] US.Cl. ..ll6/l73, 40/125 F, 248/38 [51] Int. Cl. [57] ABSTRACT [58] ofSearch, g' h z A safety device for water skiers, the device comprising aflag secured to a dowel which can be waved from a boat to warn otherboats that a towed skier is down in the water, the flag [561 Mum Cited.upon its outer side being painted bright orange, the flag being UNITEDSTATES PATENTS able to be turned inside out so to change colors.

744,977 11/1903 Nourse ..1 16/174 1 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures r a i-SIGNAL FLAG This invention relates generally to warning flags. Morespecifically the present invention relates to safety devices for waterskiers.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a safetydevice which can be used by a boat observer or boat drivers so to warnother boats that a water skier is down in the water.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a safety devicefor water skiers wherein the device comprises a flag that can be wavedin the air until the skier is in the boat or back on the skiis therebypreventing other boats such as speed boats running the skier down.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a flag which canbe turned inside out so to let other boats know when a boat is havingtrouble thereby serving more than one use.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a safetydevice for water skiers comprising a flag which when not in use can berolled up and kept in a boat at all times.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide a safety devicefor water skiers which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture,rugged in construction, easy to use and efficient in operation.

These and other objects will be readily evident upon a study of thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of the flag shown turned with the outerside thereof turned out,

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view showing the flag turned inside out,

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4. l

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the reference numeral representsa safety device for water skiers according to the present inventionwherein there is a flag 11 which is secured to one end of a straightlength of dowel l2.

The dowel comprises either a plastic, metal or wooden member which isapproximately 22 inches in length and which may be of five-eighths of aninch in diameter if made of wood.

The flag 11 may be made of any material, the flag being of rectangularconfiguration, as shown in the drawing.

The flag 11 comprises a panel of fabric material which is twice the sizeof the flag shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the panel of material being foldedover at its top edge 13 so that it depends downwardly to form a pair ofparallel panels 14 and 15 adjacent each other, each of the panelsaccordingly having an outer side 16 and an inner side 17.

The side 17 of the panels face each other and are in contact engagementwhen the outer side 16 face outwardly as shown in FIGS. I and 2 of thedrawing.

The outer sides 16 are each of bright orange color. The inner sides 17are each provided with the word l-lelp" being imprinted thereupon, asshown at 18. It is, of course, understood that when the sides 17 areinside facing each other, the word I-Ielp" cannot be seen.

The lower edge 19 of each of the panels 14 and 15 are not attachedtogether so as to permit the panels to be turned inside out.

In one form of the invention, the side edge 20 of the panels 14 and 15are secured fixedly to the dowel l2 and the opposite vertical edge 21 ofthe panels 14 and 15 are secured together fixedly by means of the stitch22 along the length thereof.

In operative use, it is now evident that the flag 13 may be invertedinside out by being pulled over the upper end of the dowel l2 and thecomer ofthe flag straightened out so as to selectively present the innerside 17 to view and thus convey the message Help".

In another form of the invention, obviously both side edges of the flagcould be stitched and the dowel 12 can be simply inserted unsecured intothe pocket thus formed by the flag.

In this form of the invention, the flag could ll ewlse be mverted andthe dowel made to slide over to either one of the ends of the pocketthus formed by the flag.

What I now claim is:

1. In a safety device for water skiers, the combination of a flagsupported upon a dowel staff, said dowel staff being made of anysuitable material and said flag being supported from an upper portionthereof, and said flag having self-contained means for selectivelydisplaying a bright orange field or a call for help, said meanscomprising said flag being comprised of an inverted pocket member ofrectangular shape and made of a material which is suitable so to permitbeing turned inside out, said pocket member including a fold along anupper edge of two panels which are accordingly positioned along sideeach other so to form a pocket there between, each of said panels havingan outer side and an inner side, said outer side being painted in brightorange color whereas the inner side of each said panel has the word helpimprinted thereupon, one vertical edge of each said panel being fixedlysecured to an upper side portion of said dowel staff, and the oppositevertical edge of each said panels being secured together by means of astitch, and a lower edge of both said panels being left unattached so toform an elongated opening to said pocket thus formed, and said flagbeing adaptable to be turned inside out selectively for being waved fromsaid dowel stalf.

1. In a safety device for water skiers, the combination of a flagsupported upon a dowel staff, said dowel staff being made of anysuitable material and said flag being supported from an upper portionthereof, and said flag having self-contained means for selectivelydisplaying a bright orange field or a call for help, said meanscomprising said flag being comprised of an inverted pocket member ofrectangular shape and made of a material which is suitable so to permitbeing turned inside out, said pocket member including a fold along anupper edge of two panels which are accordingly positioned along sideeach other so to form a pocket there between, each of said panels havingan outer side and an inner side, said outer side being painted in brightorange color whereas the inner side of each said panel has the word''''help'''' imprinted thereupon, one vertical edge of each said panelbeing fixedly secured to an upper side portion of said dowel staff, andthe opposite vertical edge of each said panels being secured together bymeans of a stitch, and a lower edge of both said panels being leftunattached so to form an elongated opening to said pocket thus formed,and said flag being adaptable to be turned inside out selectively forbeing waved from said dowel staff.